Middle English ; from Middle French and amp; L: Middle French patent ; from Classical Latin patens, present participle of patere, to be open: see patella

noun

an official document open to public examination and granting a certain right or privilege; letters patent; esp., a document granting the exclusive right to produce, sell, or get profit from an invention, process, etc. for a specific number of years

the right so granted

the thing protected by such a right; patented article or process

public land, or title to such land, granted to a person by letters patent

any exclusive right, title, or license

transitive verb

to grant a patent to or for

to secure exclusive right to produce, use, and sell (an invention or process) by a patent; get a patent for

Relating to or being a nonprescription drug or other medical preparation that is protected by a trademark.

Of high quality. Used of flour.

transitive verb

pat·ent·ed, pat·ent·ing, pat·ents

To obtain a patent on or for (an invention, for example).

To invent, originate, or be the proprietor of (an idea, for example).

To grant a patent to or for.

Origin of patent

Middle English, document granting a right, short for (lettre) patent, open (letter), from Old French (lettre) patente, from Latin patēns, patent-, open, present participle of patēre, to be open; see pet&schwa;- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

pat′ent·a·bil′i·ty

noun

pat′ent·a·ble

adjective

patent

Noun

(plural patents)

A declaration issued by a government agency declaring someone the inventor of a new invention and having the privilege of stopping others from making, using or selling the claimed invention; a letter patent.

A specific grant of ownership of a piece of property; a land patent.

Patent leather: a varnished, high-gloss leather typically used for shoes and accessories.

patent - Computer Definition

Intellectual property protection for inventors of products that are deemed novel, useful, and not obvious to one reasonably skilled in that particular art. A United States patent prevents others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling an invention throughout the United States or from importing the invention into the United States. In order to receive United States patent protection, which extends for 20 years from application, the invention must be submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office for examination. United States patent law protects not only physical devices, but also software, mathematical algorithms, business processes, and other inventions that involve the use of a computer. Note: The first patent issued in the United States was U.S. Patent No. 1X, Method of producing pot ash and pearl ash, issued to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1790, and signed by G.Washington. See also intellectual property.

patent - Investment & Finance Definition

An
exclusive right, given to a person or company by the U.S. government, that lets
the person or company “exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or
selling” a particular product or a specific process in the United States or
importing the product or process into the United States. The U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office grants a patent for a period of 17 years. Patent holders may
apply for a renewal of their patent in certain cases. There are three types of
patents: A utility patent may be
granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine,
or article of manufacture, or creates any new useful improvement. A design patent is given for a new,
original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. A plant patent may be granted to anyone who
invents or discovers and reproduces any distinct and new variety of plants.

Accounting regulations
call for the value of a patent to be amortized over its useful life, which may
be less than the legal life of 17 years. If a patent has to be defended in
court in a patent infringement suit, it is added to the acquisition cost of the
patent.

patent - Legal Definition

adj

Obvious; manifest;
apparent; clear; evident, as in “the contract had a patent ambiguity.” See also latent ambiguity. Pronounced PAY-tint.

Sentence Examples

His eyes landed on a perfect Little Red Riding Hood, right down to the ankle socks and patent leather Mary Janes.

Jake was led forward by his attorney, a newcom­er, a dapper little man resplendent in vest, patent leather shoes and a gold watch chain, all topped off by a condescending smile that seemed to say, "Look out, rubes, I'm going to spring this poor victim before you finish administrating the oath."

"Is that the same girl-boy book that talks about patent leather shoes?" he asked.

He's applying for a patent on a new piece of equipment that will make the way they've been operating chicken houses obsolete.

The site was five acres, and the building is described in the letters patent " as a fitting and noble college mansion in honour of the most glorious Virgin Mary and St Bernard in Northgates Street outside the Northgate of Oxford."

Synonyms

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Quote

American literature has been, and is, singularly deficient in established critics who have anything like a rational conception of their jobs. The majority, initiate in a few of the patent rituals of Aristotle and Quintilian , don the forbidding robes of high priests to Sweetness and Light, and go about their business much as if the idea were to keep all they know to themselves. Burton Rascoe